Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence (Paperback)

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From the Back Cover

Phenomenon: Keirsey and Bates's Please Understand Me, first published in 1978, sold nearly 2 million copies in its first 20 years, becoming a perennial best seller all over the world. Advertised only by word of mouth, the book became a favorite training and counseling guide in many institutions -- government, church, business -- and colleges across the nation adopted it as an auxiliary text in a dozen different departments. Why? Perhaps it was the user-friendly way that Please Understand Me helped people find their personality style. Perhaps it was the simple accuracy of Keirsey's portraits of temperament and character types. Or perhaps it was the book's essential message: that members of families and institutions are OK, even though they are fundamentally different from each other, and that they would all do well to appreciate their differences and give up trying to change others into copies of themselves.

Now: Please Understand Me II

For the past twenty years Keirsey has continued to investigate personality differences -- to refine his theory of the four temperaments and to define the facets of character that distinguish one from another. His findings form the basis of Please Understand Me II, an updated and greatly expanded edition of the book, far more comprehensive and coherent than the original, and yet with much of the same easy accessibility. One major addition is Keirsey's view of how the temperaments differ in the intelligent roles they are most likely to develop. Each of us, he says, has four kinds of intelligence -- tactical, logistical, diplomatic, strategic -- though one of the four interests us far more than the others, and thus gets far more practice than the rest. Like four suits in a hand of cards, we each have a long suit and a short suit in what interests us and what we do well, and fortunate indeed are those whose work matches their skills. As in the original book, Please Understand Me II begins with The Keirsey Temperament Sorter, the most used personality inventory in the world. But also included is The Keirsey Four-Types Sorter, a new short questionnaire that identifies one's basic temperament and then ranks one's second, third, and fourth choices. Share this new sorter with friends and family, and get set for a lively and fascinating discussion of personal styles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Nemesis Book Company; 1st edition (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885705026
• ISBN-13: 978-1885705020
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (124 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,185 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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270 of 279 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive work on Temperament theory., September 18, 1998

By	John Falt (Almonte, ON Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Book Review: Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey, Prometheus Nemesis Book Co.. 1998, 350 pg. By Jack Falt

Back in 1978 Keirsey and Bates wrote Please Understand Me. It was one of the first books to popularize the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI), and it included "The Keirsey Temperament Sorter" so people could get a sense of what their psychological type was. However, Keirsey and Bates main interest in the MBTI was to use it as a way to determine temperament. They saw that the SP, SJ, NF and NT grouping of types fit the four temperaments that Hippocrates had written about twenty-five hundred years ago.

Keirsey had long been interested in the concept of temperament, and while he does discuss the MBTI preferences, both books focus mainly on temperament. Unfortunately, in the first book he labelled the four temperaments with the names of Greek gods, Dionysus, Epimetheus, Apollo and Prometheus. I found these names really difficult to work with when I first read the original book, and had to have a dictionary in my hand to make any sense out of some of the material. In the intervening years Keirsey (Marilyn Bates has since died) renamed them: Artisan for the SP, Guardian for the SJ, Idealist for the NF, and Rational for the NT, which made for easier reading.

In the revised edition "The Keirsey Temperament Sorter II" has been updated with some different questions, and this can still be used to determine your type. He has added "The Keirsey FourTypes Sorter" which determines only your temperament. Both of these quizzes are also on his web site:

The book discusses in detail the similarities between temperaments and MBTI, and also how they are different. The MBTI bases psychological type on internal mental functioning. Keirsey finds it more useful to stick to what can be observed or people's behaviour: how people use words and tools.

Words are either abstract or concrete, and tools are used in a mainly cooperative or utilitarian way. Thus, SPs use mainly concrete words and use tools in a utilitarian way; SJs are concrete and cooperative; NFs are abstract and cooperative; and NTs are abstract and utilitarian. According to Keirsey, temperament determines behaviour.

Keirsey devotes a chapter to each temperament, including a description of each of the four psychological types included in that temperament, e.g. Rationals include: INTJ, INTP, ENTP and ENTJ. As would be expected the descriptions focus more on behaviour than on internal thought processes. Each temperament is described in terms of language, intellect, interest, orientation, self- image, values and social role. The book is well set up as it has numerous charts, and while emphasizing a specific temperament, it also shows the corresponding entries for the other three temperaments.

Having given a basic description of each temperament, the book then devotes a chapter to the three main areas of life: mating, parenting and leading.

In mating styles the Artisan is the Playmate, the Guardian is the Helpmate, the Idealist is the Soulmate, and the Rational is the Mindmate. While any temperament can and does marry any of the four temperaments, Keirsey finds that people tend to be attracted to their opposite: Artisans to Guardians, and Idealists to Rationals. He further describes how each temperament is likely to get along with each of the other temperaments and then gives further detail into how the temperament is likely to interact with each of the four types within the opposite temperament, e.g. an Artisan with a Guardian (ISTJ, ISFJ, ESTJ and ESFJ).

In the Parenting chapter, Keirsey describes children with each of the four temperaments and describes each of the combinations of temperament of parent and child. The Artisan parent tends to be the Liberator and is very tolerant of the child's behaviour. The Guardian parent sees the job of parenting as one of socializing the child. The Idealist parent wants to harmonize all relationships the child has. The Rational parent wants children to become individuals. The main task of all parents is to stimulate children to help them develop their potential.

There are also descriptions of how each temperament learns best. In his work as a school psychologist, Keirsey found that many behaviour problems were the result of poor instruction techniques rather than problems such as ADD or ADHS. The Artisan child needs lots of hands-on learning. The Guardian is more willing to do what he is told. The Idealist wants to be authentic and get along. The Rational just loves to soak up information, but quickly spots the teacher who doesn't know the material.

The final chapter looks at leadership. Keirsey sees leadership as a function of intelligence. He sees that each temperament has a main intellectual skill with lesser ability in the other forms of intelligence. Artisans are best at tactics, Guardians at logistics, Idealists at diplomacy, and Rationals at strategy. Churchill was a good example of a tactician. He could quickly accesses what was happening and knew what to do next. Washington was the man to lead the new nation with his ability to organize all of the details needed to bring the country out of the chaos of war. Gandhi used his example of passive resistance as the diplomatic way to bring about the end of British rule in India. Lincoln, the Rational, used his skill at strategy to give the leadership required to win the civil war. Keirsey makes the point that each of these intelligences are needed in society. As such, each intellectual skill is equally valid. Unfortunately, most intelligence tests do not measure these traits.

This updated version of Please understand Me II is almost double the size of the original. In the intervening years Keirsey has accumulated a lot of additional material that he has included in his latest book. There is a great deal of useful information for those who prefer the MBTI, and you might find that the concept of temperament is well worth considering and another useful tool to add to your psychological tool bag. < P > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack Falt is qualified in the administration of the MBTI . Through his company called Appreciating Differences he gives workshops and presentations on MBTI and True Colors. He is president of the APT - Ottawa-Carleton chapter, and is the membership coordinator for the Ontario Aassoc. of APT. END

156 of 160 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Please Understand Me II" is Keirsey at his best., November 10, 2000

By	Mark Hammond (Chambersburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I almost didn't buy this book because I thought it was just a new version of Keirsey and Bates' "Please Understand Me." The appeal of Keirsey and Bates' original work was that it covered much of the information upon which the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is based is a very readable manner. Rather than reading like a psychological treatise, it read like a book written for the general public. I am glad that I bought "Please Understand Me II." It exceeded my expectations. Keirsey's new book is much better than the original Keirsey and Bates book. I had read Keirsey and Bates at a time when I was taking an MBTI qualifying course, and I found it had value to me because it brought the concepts of personality type more alive than the text from the Consulting Psychologists Press. Although we were also using Kroeger and Thyssen's "Type Talk" and "Type Talk at Work," Keirsey gave me an added dimension. I liked it so much that I purchased Stephen Montgomery's "Pygmalion Project: Love and Coercion Among the Types : The Guardian," to get more information.

The basic appeal of a book on personality type is to gain a better understanding of ourselves, our "significant others," and people with whom we work. You might go so far as to say that it gives us an insight into what makes people tick. However, the real purpose of the study of personality type for the layman is to develop an understanding of what Isabel Myers called the "gifts differing." Each personality type has certain qualities that are unique. An understanding of those values adds dimension to interpersonal relationships, whether they be relationships within a family, significant others, or within a work group. The strengths of some members of a group add value to that group, compensate for weaknesses of other members, and make the group more effective. Rather than work with Myers and Briggs's 16 psychological types, Keirsey emphasizes the four temperaments which he developed from the scholarship associated with the MBTI. That was the fundamental strength of Keirsey and Bates' original book, and Keirsey advances that construct one step more by including information about certain "intelligences" associated with the temperaments.

I found that "Please Understand Me II" is much more than a self-help psychology book. It goes to great lengths beyond the original Keirsey and Bates publication to provide additional depth to the concept of psychological type, both from a historical background establishing the scientific basis for the study of psychological type, but also from the point of view of the scholar in making the study of psychological type much more understandable. I feel that this book has value not just to the general public, but also to students of psychology, personnel and human resources personnel, as well as the clergy and mental health professionals. People who read this book should also read Stephen Montgomery's "Pygmalion Project," Isabel Myers' "Gifts Differing," and Kroeger and Thyssen's "Type Talk" and "Type Talk at Work."

77 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A personality test for thinking people, December 15, 1999

By	sequined - See all my reviews

Granted, personality tests can never quite be taken seriously; most function like horoscopes--one-size-fits-all: as long as the test-taker wishes to coincide with the results, they are imaginatively verified. But coming to the Keirsey as a skeptic, I've found it unexpectedly accurate, on each of two very different occasions. When I tried the original version of the Keirsey several years ago, its insights had been interesting and useful; but when it occurred to me recently to take the test again, this time with _Please Understand Me II_, I was really struck by the ways in which the results differed, and how certain differences in my personality had been pinpointed, again, with much accuracy. So, even as I'd never trust an assessment of this format to divine anything like a true self, the test did give me occasion for recognizing some of the fundamental changes I had undergone over the years. (For those who might be trying to pick between the two, this second edition I think is more thorough than the first.) On this purely practical basis I would recommend the book, as a possible aid toward fuller self-understanding. Critical and detailed, it's the only "personality test" I've come across that doesn't abuse one's intelligence.